Aincrad: An Incarnating Radius
by ragef33
Summary: For the last 200 years, the world has been plagued by the floating castle, Aincrad. Built by the genius engineer Akihiko as his final legacy to the world, the Incarnating Radius has stolen the lives of millions! Kirito of Algade is one of the many who aim to cut through to the end!


_Hello there! I was thinking it would be pretty cool if maybe Aincrad was a real thing and all. Hence, this fanfic! Basically, the idea is that "Akihiko" created Aincrad 200 years ago, and it has since floated in the sky, as it whisked away humans from down below. As such, there are those born on Aincrad, and those brought to Aincrad, by the castle itself. Similar to the game, the requirement for escape is completion of the 100 floors. Currently, up to the 73rd Floor is cleared._

_This won't exactly be my first fan-fiction, as I've done one before, though, it was a fanfic of a fan-game, so.. yeah. haha. This WILL be my first SAO Fan-fiction, so try to bare with me!_

* * *

The sound of blade against blade could be heard through the echoing walls of the dungeon. This was already a familiar sound to many of the thousands of residents who inhabit the floating castle. The magical tower which floats in the sky, known by many names, but most commonly called «Aincrad».

"Hah!"

"Kuwaaa!"

Two entities battled to the death with their respective swords, one, a grotesque reptilian monster towering over 2 meters as he maneuvered a long curved sword, and his opponent, a human clad in black, wielding an equally black one-handed straight sword. To the untrained eye, it would seem as though the monster had the upper hand, as it ferociously pushed back its enemy with a fury of attacks. However, this was merely an act of desperation on the creature's part, as it tried to cut down its agile enemy, who had already cut large holes into the lizard. Yes, the human had some lines of blood staining his attire, but none of it was his.

The monster knew he was doomed, and hoped to inflict a fetal injury on the shorter human before perishing. It raised its sword high, and brought it down with all its might!

A smirk formed on the black swordsman's face, as he stepped to the side, and angled his sword to block the attack. The monster's blade was parried away, as it slid safely away from the swordsman, before he swung his own blade from this position, and connected with the the monster's neck.

A small _-thud-_ was produced, as the reptilian head hit the ground.

The swordsman swung his blade in a practiced motion, in an attempt to clear away the fresh blood, before sheathing his blade across his back.

* * *

"So, is it any good?"

"Hmmm, the equipment itself looks pretty worn and torn. But it looks like it was pretty good quality at some point. It'll cost too much to get it to its original condition, do it'll be best to sell it as raw material,"

"I thought as much. Know of anyone who would even be able to afford it?"

"Heh, you just leave that to me, Kirito,"

The ongoing conversation was between a swordsman clad in black, Kirito, and a merchant familiar with the troublesome character, Agil.

"Say, Kirito. Where did you even find this?"

"Err, I picked it off of some reptilian monster up in the dungeons of the 70th floor,"

"I see. That explains the condition... But to think you'd find something like this during a normal hunt..."

The feet wasn't exceedingly astonishing. There were many monsters who wore the equipment of the fallen, and this set here probably belonged to a rather wealthy individual, before he perished at someone's hand. The wear and tear was expected, given that monsters rarely had any knowledge of maintenance.

Dungeons were the breeding grounds to many of the more powerful creatures which roamed the towers. Like those which littered the plains and forests, the Dungeon Dwelling monsters had extraordinary reproductive capabilities, that it seemed no matter how fast they were killed off, they merely adapted.

It's been theorized that this is the work of Aincrad's magic, like many of the other strange phenomena that occurs within the floating castle. Though, to those like Kirito and Agil who were both born within Algade, on the 50th floor of Aincrad, they see nothing strange about it. This has been their reality since the beginning, and have grown within this world, like many thousands of others. Others, however, have not been so lucky.

"Then, this amount of Col should be fine, given the condition of the equipment,"

"... This... This is practically a rip-off,"

Kirito complained about the amount of money he received for the equipment he scavenged. It was wasn't exactly a small amount, and he understood the reasoning behind it, but he was disappointed that the equipment would be smelted down, and re-crafted to be worth 10 times the amount he received.

"Oi oi, I need to be able to make a profit you know? You can't expect me to get this made into something useful for free, can you?"

"Whatever,"

Kirito pouted in response to Agil's logical response, as he counted the coins, before sliding them into his pouch. Kirito closed his eyes as he looked up, as if calculating a number of scenarios in his head, until he finally spoke.

"I should be fine for the month," "Anyways, I'll come by some time this week to see if you have anything aside from useless junk to sell me,"

Kirito waved to Agil as he made his way towards the exit, wearing a smirk on his face to show he was only teasing.

"My, Kii-bou, if you act like that, people might think you're actually in a good mood,"

A rather nasally voice made itself known as Kirito exited the shop he was in. Kirito took a second to look around, before noticing the source of the voice sitting at the edge of the roof of the building he just exited.

"Argo,"

That was really all Kirito could say. It wasn't shock that kept him from saying more. It was uncertainty. His expression turned into an expecting one, as he waited for the reason behind Argo's presence.

"Kii-bou,"

That was all she said in return, as she wore a grin on her face. "Kii-bou" was a nickname she had for him, utilizing a system of honorifics that a culture on the surface-world used, though most Aincrad residence don't bother with such things due to the diverse languages, and the fact that many aspects of their old languages have died and merged thanks to the translation magic.

Giving a sigh, Kirito spun on his heel, and continued to walk in the direction he had been heading.

"Is there something you wanted to talk about? I'm not interested in having a staring contest with «The Rat»,"

Kirito could hear the sound of two light feet barley touching the ground, figuring that Argo had jumped down to follow. He couldn't hear her foot steps though. She always was the stealth type. He could only hear her landing because she wanted him to.

"Well Kii-bou, I normally don't get to see you, you know? It's been a whole year! When I heard you were in Algade again, I decided to pop in, and greet you,"

Her response was rather cheery and enthusiastic. But she was still not telling him why she was here.

"If you really wanted to talk, it wouldn't have mattered where I was. After all, you always know where everyone is, right «Argo the Rat»?"

"Ah, that maybe true, but we really haven't seen each other in a year. I wanted to confirm you were alive with my own eyes. I hear you're still hanging out at - what do they call themselves these days? Oh right – «The Front-Lines»! Hah!"

Her laugh wasn't directed towards Kirito, but rather the arrogance of those within the "Front Lines", to consider themselves somehow special.

"What of it?"

"Ah, Kii-bou, I'll never understand why you wish to put your life on the line for something like this. You're an excellent swordsman. It would be a waste if someone like you died fighting for something he didn't even believe in,"

"And what do you think I'm fighting for?"

"Even I don't know that,"

She admitted aloud, which wasn't something that was very common.

"If I didn't know you, I would say that you're just an adventurous fool, but I do know you, and that doesn't seem like you,"

She paused for a second, and looked at me, as if inspecting me.

"You know, I didn't believe the rumors till now, but now I'm not so sure,"

"What rumors?"

"You're totally going out with someone,"

She said it so bluntly, and with such a confident smirk, that Kirito wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

"Going out with someone?"

"Yeah, a girl! It's always a girl,"

Argo seemed to give Kirito some kind of knowing grin, as he simply rolled his eyes,

"Oh! Maybe it's a boy?"

The sound of Argo's distinct nasally giggle, which almost sounded like a cackle towards the end, filled the alley way that the pair walked through.

"It's nothing of that nature,"

Kirito finally denied after Argo's laughter had died down a bit.

"Is that right?"

"Maybe I just like fighting monsters,"

"Oh, so she's into tough guys huh?"

"Please stop,"

"Please stop what~~?"

Her voice seemed to ring in a teasing tone, as if daring Kirito to elaborate. Instead, Kirito continued his walk towards the Teleport Gate at the center of Algade, in silence. He figured if he gave no response, Argo wouldn't be able to tease him for any mistakes he said.

But then...

"Say, Kii-bou..."

"Hmm?"

Kirito peaked back at Argo who was looking towards some crowd of people. He couldn't really see her expression quite well under that hood that she always wear, but her voice was soft.

"Try not to get yourself killed, - And if you ever need help, just pay the proper fee, and I'm there!"

As she said this, her attention returned to Kirito with a smirk. Kirito could only smile back and nod.

"I'll keep that in mind,"

He said as he headed towards the Teleport Gate. He took another peak back, and Argo was already gone. With a sigh, Kirito turned back to the Gate, and uttered his destination~!


End file.
